


The Girl in the Jeep

by Lampshadez



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-07 14:44:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7718893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lampshadez/pseuds/Lampshadez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU set technically early in season one but AU.  Nicole is a new cop in town and she gets a call in the middle of a night about a car crash in the woods.  Officer Haught maybe gets a bit attached to and invested in the driver, and learns that she's involved in things Nicole wants to know more about.<br/>Basically an AU of how Nicole and Waverly meet and get together, but still tied very closely with established canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Nicole knew she was still new in town, but she liked to think that she was making a quick study of the people and the place.

The overnight shifts that Nedley tended to put her on helped, too.  Nights were usually quiet, save for the semi-regular bar and post-rodeo fights she’d be called in to break up.  The days she worked helped her get to know the department, but the night shifts were really when she got to know the people and the town.  She’d been making a list in her head of places to check out -  the rodeo should be avoided at all costs, but people really seemed to like the one Chinese food place in town and the bar called Shorty’s.

So, Nicole did her evening patrol rounds, driving the familiar route but keeping an eye out for anything unusual and anything she hadn’t noticed before.

Then she got a call about a car accident.  She headed to the site and saw one car parked on the side of the road, with a man standing outside it – which in itself was a feat, it was the middle of the night so it was pitch dark and freezing cold – waving her down.

“Officer!  Officer!”

Nicole got out of her car, parked behind the man’s, and walked up to the man.  “How are you doing tonight, sir?  You reported an accident?”

“Yeah, I did,” he said.  “Come with me!” He reached for her arm and she stepped back instantly, hand on her gun.

“Easy there, sir.”  He put his hands up and she realized he was a bit worked up, but not dangerous.  “Walk me through what happened.  Are you hurt?”  She took her hand off her firearm and reached for her notepad to take notes.

“No, I was driving home and I saw it, I saw a car, a red jeep, go into the woods!”

Nicole looked toward the trees on the side of the road.  “I don’t see a car in there, sir.  Have you been drinking tonight?”

“No!” the man said.  “It must’ve rolled!  I could hear it.  Please, I pulled over and walked down and saw it before I called it in.  Please, come with me!”

Nicole took a breath.  Her training told her not to follow strange men into the woods in the middle of the night, but this one seemed sincere.  She was inclined toward believing him, rather than doubting him.

“Into the woods there?” Nicole asked, nodding toward them.  She took her flashlight out and aimed toward where the man pointed.  “A car went in there?”

“Yes!”

Nicole took a few steps over, so she could see into the woods without the man’s car obstructing her view.  She was about to tell him she didn’t see anything and call for backup – she was alone and she knew she had to investigate the claim of a car going into the woods, however unlikely it seemed, so she would need to call backup so she wouldn’t be led into a trap in the woods alone.

Then, she saw something.

“What is that?” she asked aloud, but mostly to herself.  She remembered that the man was standing there and looked toward him.  “Take me to where you saw the car.  Walk ahead of me, slowly, and make no sudden moves and keep your hands where I can see them.  Got it?”

The man nodded, and led the way.

They stopped where Nicole saw that thing.  She bent down and picked it up – it was a file.  She opened it and saw what looked like a lot of historical research focusing on the late nineteenth century.  She shined her flashlight further up the path and saw more files strewn about, as well as flattened-down leaves and grass.  She realized that the man was probably right, the car must’ve rolled.

She raised her flashlight up a bit from the ground and she could see it – the red jeep, definitely worse for wear but thankfully upright against a tree.

“Oh, shit!”

She ran to the car and felt an unbelievable sense of relief to see that the driver was wearing her seatbelt.

She fumbled for her radio, hands shaking but moving swiftly, and called it in.  She identified herself and her location, then continued the call.  “I’ve got a restrained female driver, looks like early twenties, head laceration and what looks like a broken arm and very likely some internal injuries.”  Hands still shaking, she reached for a pulse.  “Pulse is strong, but she’s unconscious.  Requesting an immediate ambulance.”

Nicole put her radio back on her shoulder and took rubber gloves out of her coat pocket.  She thought she had some first aid supplies on her, but that was about it.  Luckily, she had some tissues in her pocket.

“Alright, what’s your name?” she asked the man as she pressed the tissues to the bleeding head wound on the woman.  Seeing the crashed car and the woman inside again, the man was panicked.  He was breathing hard, he was pale, he looked terrified.  “Hey!  Sir, what’s your name?”

“Mike.”

“Hi Mike, I’m Officer Haught.  Nicole.  You just saved this woman’s life.”

Mike tried to look enthused by that but he just looked green.

“Oh god, I know her,” he said, hands on his head, breathing hard.  When he’d come down before, he only took a small glance, just to be sure that the car went down there.  But now, he was really seeing it, and the driver.  “That’s Waverly Earp, everyone knows her, she’s a sweetheart.  Oh god, and she’s hurt!”

“She’s going to be okay,” Nicole said, meaning it but not sure if that was because it was objectively true or she just wanted it to be.  “Mike!  Mike, she’s going to be okay, alright?  You made sure of that.”

Mike nodded, but was still clearly very shaken up.  Nicole needed to take care of the driver – Waverly – and she couldn’t keep him calm at the same time.  She needed to get him away so he could calm down.

“Mike, tell you what,” Nicole said.  “How about you go gather up her files on the ground and wait on the road for the ambulance?  When they get here, point them down here.”

Mike nodded, relieved to be away from the carnage.

Nicole carefully lifted a hand and turned on a light on the dashboard so she could see, and then nodded toward Mike, who still had the flashlight.  “Go, alright?  You did good.  Thank you.”

Mike nodded again, breathing slowing as he backed away.

Nicole watched him go, satisfied that he was walking steadily and appeared to be calming down.  She turned her attention back to Waverly.

“Okay, you’re going to be okay,” Nicole said, again mostly for herself.  “Alright?  You’re going to be okay.  I’m a rookie cop, to be honest, and this is the first car crash I’ve ever worked and between you and me, I’m terrified right now.  But you’re going to be okay.  I promise.”

She got so focused on speaking to calm herself down that she didn’t notice Waverly wake up.

“That wasn’t very uplifting.”

Nicole about jumped when she heard the woman in the car speak.

“You’re awake!” she settled on.  She looked down at her and felt her move under her hands.  “Hey, hey, hey, no.  Don’t move.  You’re alright, I’ve got you.  You’ve got a pretty nasty gash on your head.”

Waverly looked at Nicole, right into her eyes, and Nicole felt her heartrate speed up again.  But she quickly reminded herself that she was there to do a job, not get lost in Waverly Earp’s eyes, so she took a deep breath and refocused herself.

“Oh shit, I crashed?" Waverly asked, starting to breathe fast.

Nicole knew that hyperventilating wouldn't help Waverly.  "It's okay, you're okay."

Waverly still looked panicked.  Nicole could tell she needed to do something, fast, to calm her down.  "Hey look at me," she said, gently putting a hand on Waverly's cheek to steady her and moving herself a bit, so she could look Waverly in the eye without Waverly having to turn too much.  "Just look at me, alright?  Take a few breaths, I know it hurts, but just try to take a few breaths.  Alright?  Yes, it looks like you crashed, but you're going to be okay.  You are going to be fine."

Waverly did so, taking a few breaths even though it made her ribs throb.  Her shaky breaths evened out and she could feel her pounding heart slow down.

"You're going to be okay," Nicole repeated.

“Yeah, I definitely feel like it,” Waverly said sarcastically, finally about as calm as she was going to get.  She was in so much pain she was kind of hoping she would go unconscious again.  Her head hurt, her left arm was throbbing, her ribs were killing her, and she could already feel bruises and cuts on her neck and chest from the seatbelt.

“A sense of humor is good,” Nicole said.  “As is wearing your seatbelt.  You’d be shocked how many people die because they don’t wear them.”

“Again, death talk is maybe not the most uplifting.”

“Right, I’m sorry,” Nicole said.  She cleared her throat, but didn’t speak.  She wasn’t sure what to say.  She was naturally very confident and sure of herself but this was the first car accident she ever worked, and she wasn’t exactly panicking, but she wasn’t completely calm, either.

“Is he okay?”  Waverly’s face, contorted with pain, shifted to an expression of fear and concern.

Nicole’s heart dropped.  “Who?” she asked.  She hadn’t seen anyone else in the car, or on the road or the path leading to the car.  “Is who okay?”

“The deer.”

“Dear who?” Nicole asked.  “Your boyfriend?  Do you have a boyfriend?  Was he in the car?”

“No,” Waverly said, and Nicole wondered for a very short passing moment which of the questions Waverly was answering.  “The deer.  The enourmous woodland creature that I was swerving to avoid.”

Nicole looked at the car again.  “You did this to avoid a deer?”

“Trust me, if I hit it at the speed I was driving, I’d be a lot worse off.”

“Ah,” Nicole said.  “Wait, how fast were you driving?”

“The speed limit!” Waverly protested, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.  Nicole smiled, too.  “You’re new, right?”

“Yeah,” Nicole said.  “We don’t have a whole lot of deer in the middle of the road where I’m from.”

“Which is?” Waverly asked through a wince.  Nicole knew it was important to keep her talking so she wouldn’t go unconscious again, and her training and her own research suggested that it was good to get crash victims talking to distract them from whatever pain they’re in.

“Chicago,” Nicole said.  “Lived there until my last year of high school, then we moved up north, then I got a job all the way out here.  I learned to drive in Chicago, though, and I guess I never got used to deer.”

“I’m sure Chicago has its own challenges,” Waverly said through gritted teeth.  “I grew up here, I doubt I could drive in a place like Chicago that has more than four streetlights.”

Nicole could hear how increasingly pained Waverly sounded, and as they spoke she threw glances over her shoulder up the path, hoping with her whole being to see or hear sirens coming.

“Yeah,” Nicole said, voice not quite sounding normal.  “There are lots of streetlights in Chicago.”

Waverly inhaled deeply.  “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Nicole.  Nicole Haught.  Officer Haught,” she settled on finally, mentally kicking herself for letting the conversation lull.

“Officer Haught, huh?” Waverly asked.  “Descriptive.  I’m-.”

“Waverly Earp,” Nicole said.  Waverly’s brows furrowed slightly at that.  “The man who found you, he said his name was Mike.  He said he recognized you, said everybody knew you.  You seem like quite the popular girl around here.”

“It’s all in the smile and wave,” Waverly managed.  She glanced down at her arms, one surely broken and the other bruised.  “Which I think I’ll save for later.”

“Yeah,” Nicole laughed a bit.  “Good idea.  Still, very nice to meet you, Waverly Earp.”

“You too,” Waverly said.  “Well, maybe not, given the circumstances…”

Nicole laughed and she could see Waverly lighten up a bit.  It felt good to be able to comfort her in such a shitty situation.

**-WE-**

The ambulance came and took Waverly away.  She stayed conscious the whole time, and Nicole stood back to let the medics do their work, but she could hear a lot of what they said.  She had to stay behind at the scene, though, and get Mike’s statement, and take accounts and evidence of the scene.  The hospital would take Waverly’s blood alcohol levels and get back to Nicole, but upon closer examination of the scene, she felt pretty sure that it was just a really bad accident.

By the time her shift ended, she was on her way to the hospital anyway to get an update on Waverly.  She could’ve just gotten the update over the phone, but she wanted to be there in person and see how Waverly was.

So, she was stood at the nurses’ station, getting the information she needed.  She could see two people in the waiting room of the otherwise empty floor, save for staff and patients.  She gave them a bit of a glance, which was another one of her cop habits – whenever she entered a room, she immediately oriented herself with who and what was in it.  So, she saw a half dozen empty chairs, and two filled ones, with an empty one between them.

She saw a ripped-jeans-and-leather-jacket clad white woman, tall but hunched over, head in her hands, knee bouncing impatiently.  The other person was a stoic black man, who would glance at the woman every now and then to see if she was alright, but otherwise stare at the open magazine open on his lap.

The nurse handed Nicole the folder of information she requested.

“Thanks,” Nicole said.  “Is there any update?”

“She’s in surgery,” the nurse said.  “She reptured her spleen so they’re taking it out, but I can’t really tell you much more.”

“She made it out of all that with a ruptured spleen,” Nicole said.  “And a few broken bones.  Wow.”

“Those Earps are something,” the nurse said, using a tone that Nicole couldn’t quite figure out.  The nurse also gave a glance toward the waiting room, which was far enough down the hall that the people in it couldn’t hear Nicole or the nurse.

“They’re here for Waverly Earp?”

The nurse nodded.  “That’s her sister, just got back to town.  I don’t know who the man is, but he flashed some government badge and demanded we wake up the best doctor in the county to work on her.”

“Did you?”

“No,” the nurse said.  “It’s a spleen removal.  Any surgeon worth their salt can do that.”

“But she’s going to be alright?”  It was a question, but it was also almost a threat.

“Officer, our doctors are perfectly adequate at their jobs, I assure you.”

Nicole nodded.  “Thank you.  What kind of government badge did he flash?”

The nurse shrugged.  “I don’t know specifically, but it was American.”

“American?”

The nurse nodded and set about working on some other charts.

“Was it FBI?” Nicole asked.  “Marshals?  Homeland Security?”

“If I knew, I’d tell you,” the nurse said, impatient.  “Officer, I’ve got other patients to worry about.”

“Right,” Nicole said.  She held up the file.  “Thank you.  I’ll be back tomorrow to check on her.  Have a good night.”

“You too,” the nurse replied, more out of formality than anything, as she got back to work.

Nicole left, sure to take another look at the two people in the waiting room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. I don't usually write AU like this but I kind of thought of different ways Nicole and Waverly would meet and I've been watching so many medical shows lately (Scrubs is a national treasure) which led us to this. Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

“Nicole, I thought you had the day off,” Sheriff Nedley asked when she went into work the next morning.

“I do,” she said.  “I’ll be here for my shift tonight.  I just wanted to check on the Earp girl, from the accident last night.”

“The hospital called, she’s out of surgery,” Nedley said.  “She’s fine.”

Nicole nodded, relieved.  “Good.  I’m glad.”

Nedley nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, she could use a break.  Her uncle just died, her sister’s back in town.”

Nicole made a bit of a face, not quite sure how to take those two bits of information that were presented as being somewhat equally unfortunate.

“While you’re here, run this across the hall, will you?” Nedley ordered, handing a box to Nicole.  “I don’t want to deal with that Dolls guy any more than I need to.”

“Sure,” Nicole said.

**-WE-**

Nicole knocked a few times on the door across the hall, then opened it and entered.

“Hey there,” she said warmly.  “I know I’m out of uniform, I’m off today, but I’m Nicole.  Officer Haught.  Y’all got a package from…” she looked down.  “Oh, CSIS!  That’s cool…”

She trailed off, getting a good look at the man standing in front of her and realizing one, that he was the man from the waiting room last night and two, that he was not at all pleased to see her.

“Nice to meet you Officer Haught,” Dolls said, taking the package.  “If you ever enter my offices again without knocking, I’ll have you arrested for treason.”

Nicole’s face fell a bit, but she didn’t back down.

“Thanks for the package.”

“Dude, she did knock,” Wynonna said tiredly.  Nicole looked over and saw the woman from the waiting room sitting at the table.  “Chill.”

Dolls looked like he wanted to retort, but he held it back.  Wynonna was clearly having a shitty day, so he didn’t want to add to it.

“What office is this?” Nicole asked.

Dolls gave her a look, one sort of annoyance and sort of irritated surprise, and Wynonna gave her a look of mild amusement.

“You were at the hospital last night, flashing an American government badge and waiting on Waverly Earp,” Nicole said.

“And you’re the investigating officer?” Dolls asked.

Nicole nodded.

He stuck his hand out.  “US Deputy Marshal Dolls.”

Nicole shook his hand.

“Wynonna Earp,” Wynonna offered, waving a bit, from her seat at the table.  “Deputy to the deputy marshal.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nicole said.  “I heard Waverly’s doing alright.  I’m glad.”

Wynonna made a face, jaw clenched tight, like she did not want to talk about it.  “Yeah, me too,” she managed sincerely, but also very much like she wanted that to be the end of that conversation.

Nicole turned back toward Dolls.  “So, what’s a US Deputy Marshal doing up here getting packages from CSIS?”

“Nothing you need to worry about, Officer,” Dolls said.  “It’s on a need-to-know basis.”

“Deputy Marshal-.”

“Thanks for the package, Officer,” Dolls dismissed, turning back to the table and signaling very clearly that Nicole was meant to leave.

She stood there for just a second longer than turned and left.

**-WE-**

She didn’t go home or to her desk, though.  She knew she probably should go home, she only got a few hours of sleep.  But she headed to the evidence room and pulled out some evidence from the night before – the files she had Mike collect from the scene of the crash.  She checked them out herself, freeing them from police custody so she could return them to Waverly herself.

**-WE-**

Nicole knocked on the doorway to Waverly’s open hospital room.

“Hey,” she said, when Waverly turned toward her.

“Hey, Officer Haught.”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Waverly smiled.

“You can call me Nicole, you know.”

“Alright, hi, _Nicole_.”

“How are you feeling?” Nicole asked, entering the room but still standing a few feet from Waverly’s bed.

“Oh, great,” Waverly said. Nicole gave her a look.  “I’m okay.  They’ve got me on the good stuff.”  She gestured to the IV in her good arm.

Nicole looked at the IV bag.  “That is the good stuff.  Lucky you.”

She looked back at Waverly.  It had been less than twelve hours since the accident but in that time, a lot of bruises had formed.  A lot of Waverly’s face was bruised up and swelling from the now-stitched gash.  Her neck was bruised, her good arm was bruised, and Nicole could see bruises on Waverly’s chest peeking out of the collar of her hospital gown.

Her left arm was in a cast and elevated on a pillow, and her last two fingers on her right hand were in splints.  Nicole had been told that Waverly had three fractured ribs and several additional bruised ones, as well.

“Really, how are you?”

“Kind of surprised I’m alive, to be honest,” Waverly said.  “I didn’t think when I swerved that it’d go this badly, but I must’ve hit a ditch or a log or something, something that made me flip.”

“Yeah, crime scene techs say it looks like you flipped three times.”

“Wow,” Waverly said.  “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Nicole said.  “But you’re going to be okay.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Hey, so I have something for you,” Nicole said, holding out the files.  “We had them in evidence, just because they were at the scene, but I got them released.  They seem important.”

“They are,” Waverly said.  She went to reach for them but Nicole was on her left, and she couldn’t really reach with that arm, or turn toward Nicole to get them.

“Ah,” Nicole said, stepping forward.  She put them on Waverly’s lap, a bit hesitant to get into Waverly’s space like that, but she put them down quickly and gently and stepped back, completely missing the look on Waverly’s face that showed she maybe didn’t mind Nicole getting so close.

“Thanks,” Waverly recovered.

“It looks pretty thorough,” Nicole said.  “Are you writing a book or something?”

“No, not really,” Waverly said, not quite sure how to explain it.  “I did a lot of research in university.  I graduated, but that habit never really dies, you know?”

“You did all this research for fun?”

“No,” Waverly said, then noticed the confused look on Nicole’s face.  “So, I’m an Earp, right?  Like, Wyatt Earp.  This is all about him, about people he dealt with.”

“People he killed,” Nicole said.

Waverly squinted at her.  “Did you read them?”

“I logged them,” Nicole corrected, but Waverly’s expression didn’t change.  “Alright, yes, I read them.  But I did have to make sure what they were!  We had to make sure they all went together, that they were all in your car and belonged to you.”

“Yeah, they do,” Waverly said. “Just a little research pet project.”

“Yeah?” Nicole asked.  “I was thinking maybe you were working for the feds, too.”

“What?” Waverly asked, starting to panic a bit.  “Why would you say that?”

“I met your sister today, and her boss,” Nicole said.  “They were here last night, and I officially met them today at the station, in their offices.”

“They’re in their offices?”

“Yeah.  So this is for them?” Nicole asked.  “This is research for the Marshals?”

“Are you here for an official statement or something, Officer?” Waverly snapped a bit, though she instantly regretted.

“No!” Nicole protested.  “No, I just wanted to check on you.”

Waverly backed off a bit.  “Thank you for returning this.”

“No problem,” Nicole said.  “The crime techs should be done with your car today, they’ll release it to your sister if you want.”

“Yeah, if she stops by again, I’ll talk to her about getting that set up.”

“She hasn’t been by?”

“She was here last night,” Waverly said, maybe a shade defensive.  She saw that Nicole definitely picked up on the defensive tone.  “She doesn’t like hospitals.”

“Have they told you how long they plan on keeping you?”

“A few days, probably,” Waverly said.  “The doctors said something about keeping me for observation, what with the concussion and the surgery and the multiple broken bones.”

“Yeah, all that seems like something they may want to keep an eye on.”

“So you’re here alone?” Nicole asked.

Waverly was going to answer but was cut off by a voice coming from the doorway.

“Alright, babe, Gus couldn’t get someone to cover at Shorty’s so she’s there, but she said she’d be here later,” Champ Hardy announced, loudly, walking through the door and carrying a paper bag.  “She sent your favorite, though.  I ate some of your fries, but you don’t mind, right?”

“Nicole, this is Champ.”

“Waverly’s boyfriend,” Champ offered in introduction and greeting, holding a hand out to Nicole.

“Officer Haught,” she said, shaking his hand.  Champ Hardy had a shitty handshake.  “We’ve met.  I gave you a ticket last week.”

“And there’s still no chance I can talk my way out of it?” Champ asked, stepping a bit closer than Nicole would have liked (any amount closer was more than Nicole would’ve liked).

“No,” Nicole said sternly, a bit of disbelief in her voice that Champ was maybe flirting with her in front of Waverly.  "Not a chance."

“Babe,” Waverly warned.

Champ cleared his throat, fixed his hair, adjusted his collar.  “Thanks for looking out for Waverly,” he said.  “I know she looks pretty gnarly, but the doctors said she’ll be alright.”

Nicole opened her mouth and then shut it, not quite sure what to say to that.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Waverly,” she said, turning to her.  “I’ll see you around.”

“Thanks for stopping by, Nicole.”

**-WE-**

Nicole did manage to get home and get some sleep, and made it back to the station in time for her double shift.  Before she clocked in, though, she went and got some coffee.  She went into the break room and saw that someone else had the same idea.

“Wynonna, hi,” Nicole said, walking in.

Wynonna turned and nodded in greeting to Nicole.

“Bit late in the day for coffee, eh?”

“It’s not coffee,” Wynonna said.  She closed the bottle she was pouring into her mug and crossed the room to put it back in the far cabinet.  It was whiskey.

“Right,” Nicole said quietly.  She cleared her throat and spoke up.  “So, I saw Waverly today.  She looks good.”

“Yeah, I talked to her on the phone,” Wynonna said.  “She’s doing good.”

“I’m probably going to go back tomorrow, if you want a ride…”

“I can drive myself,” Wynonna said.

“Oh, okay,” Nicole said.  “I just…I heard you hadn’t been by the hospital in person since last night, I thought maybe it was a ride issue.”

“Well, it’s not,” Wynonna said simply.

There was another brief silence.

“Sorry,” Nicole said.  “It was kind of rude of me to ask.”

“Yeah, it was.”

Nicole nodded and reached for the coffee pot, ready to let that conversation be done there.

Wynonna sighed.  She didn’t mean to go after this new cop like this, she just didn’t want to have this conversation.

“Thanks for checking up on her,” she settled on.

Nicole looked up, expression trying its best to be neutral.  “Yeah, no problem.”

“I’ve been telling Waves for years to maybe expand her friend circle a bit, at least beyond the rodeo ring.”

“Yeah, I've met Champ,” Nicole said, unwittingly putting something a bit extra in her tone.

“Yeah, he’s something.”

Nicole smiled a bit, appreciating the agreement.  She looked at Wynonna and saw that she was lingering.  “Hey, are you sure you’re alright?”

Wynonna nodded, taking a big sip from her mug.  She gave Nicole an emphatic thumbs up.  “Oh, yeah.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do…”

Wynonna scoffed at her.

“What?” Nicole asked, not understanding Wynonna’s reaction.

“There has never really been a great relationship between me and the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department.”

“Yeah, that's not me,” Nicole said.

“So you haven’t heard anything about us Earp girls?”

Nicole frowned a bit.  “That’s not what I said.”

Wynonna cocked an eyebrow.  “Right.  Well, the rumors of my shenanigans have been greatly exaggerated.”

“Noted,” Nicole laughed.  “Really, though.  If you need anything, let me know.”

Wynonna’s expression softened a bit.  She looked at Nicole in a new way, in a way that showed that maybe Wynonna could trust her.

She gave a mock salute.  “Will do, Officer.”

Nicole watched Wynonna walk out of the room.  “Good night, Wynonna.”

Wynonna didn’t respond out loud, but raised her mug to Nicole over her back.

**-WE-**

Nicole worked her shift that night as usual, but had a day shift the next day.  She had lost count of how many times she’d filled her huge travel mug – she alternated between coffee and straight water, knowing that dehydration would impede on her ability to work sooner than tiredness would.

On top of all that, it was just a strange day.  Dolls had instructed the whole sheriff’s department to give him immediate notice whenever something unusual came over the wire.  Well, that morning, in came a call about a man’s hand being chopped off at a bus stop, which was the second weird thing after a mayor was fatally stabbed at a time capsule ceremony.

Somehow, all this culminated into a hostage situation at an army surplus store, and of course Dolls was on the scene even before the police.

Nicole approached him and asked for a rundown of the situation, which she received, though she could tell he was leaving things out.  She knew that she was new in town, but she wasn’t any newer than Dolls.  As a cop, she had a responsibility to the town, to protect it.  She wasn’t sure she needed to protect the town from Dolls (and by extension, Wynonna and Waverly) but she knew they were all hiding something and that secrets very rarely tended to be good, especially when they’re kept from people who can help.

Still, Dolls explained the situation, and Nicole nodded, taking it in, feeling all those worries about him but also recognizing his handle on the situation, which was both with an adept hand and with one that wasn’t about to relinquish control.

“Hey, isn’t that Champ’s truck?” Nicole asked, maybe a bit proud that she noticed something Dolls hadn’t.

“Waverly boyfriend?”

“Unfortunately.”

Dolls turned back toward her, his expression somehow becoming even more no-nonsense. 

“Call Waverly, give her an update if she seems up to it.”

Nicole nodded, taking the phone he handed it to her.

**-WE-**

That wasn’t the only phone call Nicole made to Waverly that day, though.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Nicole said, actually kind of surprised that Waverly answered.

“Nicole?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Nicole said.  “I left a voicemail earlier, I wanted to make sure you got it…”

“Yeah,” Waverly said.  “Yeah, I did.  Thank you for calling, it was really sweet of you.”

Nicole could hear that Waverly had been crying.  “I’m sorry about Shorty.”

“Yeah,” Waverly said.  “Wynonna told me.  They, uh.  They think the whole thing was just too much for his heart, so…”

“Yeah, I heard that,” Nicole said, not knowing what else to say.  “Still…”

There was a bit of a pause.  Nicole wanted to say more, but she didn’t know what to say.  Waverly didn’t want to hang up, either.

“I’ve got to go,” Waverly said abruptly, and Nicole could swear she heard some disappointment.  “Champ just got here.”

“Yeah, I heard he’s doing alright,” Nicole said.  “So, that’s…good.”

“Mhm,” Waverly agreed.  “Hey, thanks for calling.”

“No problem,” Nicole said.

“Good night, Nicole.”

“Good night, Waverly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty so I've been thinking about why I wanted to write this and I really didn't know for a while but I think I've figured out that I just wanted to explore Nicole's curiosity about the town, and the way I wanted to do that was to kind of reset everything. I get why they didn't have this much of Nicole doing this on the show - the show's not about her. But, this fic is. So I think that's kind of the direction we're going in, with Nicole trying to figure out this town and Dolls and Co. while she's getting to know Waverly. Which, yes, we see a lot of in the show, we do see Nicole wanting to know more but I wanted to do more with that. So if this thing seemed kind of rudderless before now I think we've found ourselves a rudder.


	3. Chapter 3

“Tell me what the outside world’s like.”

Nicole looked up at Waverly over the card game they had going on the table.  Nicole was visiting, as she did.  She knew Waverly had other visitors – Champ was a frequent visitor, Gus came around, Chrissy showed up sometimes.  Dolls had come to get the files that had been in Waverly’s car – he was not happy that Nicole took them out of evidence to return them to Waverly.

“The outside world?” Nicole asked, amused.  “You’ve only been in here a few days.”

“It’s been a long few days,” Waverly said.

Nicole nodded, jaw clenched a bit.  “Yeah.”

“And it’ll be a long next few days, or however long it is until I get out of here,” Waverly continued.  “Come on, there’s a window but all I can see is the parking lot.  What’s it like out there?”

Nicole looked from the window and back to Waverly.

“It’s nice,” Nicole said.  ”It’s been hovering around twenty degrees.  Leaves are starting to fall, which isn’t making the roads any safer, so be careful when you get back out there.”

“I will,” Waverly grinned.

“This place is still new to me, so I just see it as beautiful.  So much about this place is beautiful,” she said, maybe pausing after that statement, looking at Waverly, for a bit longer than she should have.  “I mean, you grew up here.  You must know how beautiful it gets around here this time of year.”

“Yeah, until it’s covered in three feet of snow and the temperature is in the negatives.”

Nicole laughed.  “Yeah, maybe not then.  But it’s great outside.  The kind of weather when you just want to go on walks or play outside or something.”

“Play outside?” Waverly asked, a bit amused.  “What, in piles of leaves?”

Nicole shrugged.  “Maybe, yeah.  I was thinking more along the lines of a basketball hoop in the driveway.”

Waverly frowned a bit.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve never played driveway basketball.”

“We’re not real huge on driveways ‘round here.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that.  I guess you’re going to have to show me.”

Waverly smiled politely but broke eye contact.

“Hey, can I ask you a weird favor?” she said after just a moment, but felt like a lifetime.

“Yeah, sure,” Nicole said, not worrying if she sounded too eager.

“The doctor said I’m supposed to walk around, since I just had surgery.  Can you walk with me?”

“Yeah, sure, absolutely,” Nicole said, practically springing out of her chair.

Waverly grinned a bit at Nicole’s eagerness, but her smile faded.  It had been a few days since the accident but she was still in a good deal of pain, and getting out of bed was really bad.

Seeing that falter in Waverly’s disposition made Nicole nervous, but she tried to hide it.  She wanted to hide it.

She watched as Waverly carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed and eased herself closer to the floor.  Nicole stood there, arms outstretched like she was ready to catch Waverly.

Waverly was a bit amused by the sight.

“I’m not gonna fly at you,” Waverly cracked.  “Just, make sure I don’t fall.”

Nicole nodded.  “Got it.”

Waverly put her hands in Nicole’s, leaning on her to stand up, which was the worst part.  She put her hands in Nicole’s and felt something that wasn’t pain, but she very quickly just chalked it up to the pain meds.

“Thanks,” Waverly said, finally standing.

“No problem,” Nicole replied.  “Are you alright?”

Waverly nodded, taking a deep breath in.  “I’m great.”

“Yeah, you’re going to be,” Nicole grinned.  She stepped aside, still with her hands on Waverly but giving her a path to the door.  “Ready?”

“Yes,” Waverly said.  She readjusted her posture, wanting to stand up straight like her doctors told her to, so that her ribs would heal.  It was painful, though, and the movement was not exactly smooth.

“Oh, shit, uh, Waverly…” Nicole stammered.  Waverly looked up at her.  “Your shoulder…”

Waverly looked over and saw that her gown was falling.  “Oh god!  This thing keeps coming untied, do you mind…?”

“Yes, of course,” Nicole said.  She stepped behind Waverly, keeping a hand on her to steady her and quickly tying the gown up, making sure her eyes were only on the knot.

“Good thing you’re not some guy, right?” Waverly asked, voice higher than normal and hoping that Nicole didn’t notice.  “Otherwise that could’ve been really awkward.”

Nicole cleared her throat.  “No worries, I’ve got you.”  She tied the gown shut and gave the knot a little pat for good measure, then stepped back to Waverly’s side.  “You’re all set.”

“Thank you,” Waverly said, for the first time noticing how close she and Nicole were to each other and feeling her cheeks get a little hot.  “I owe you one.”

“Well, if I’m ever in a position where my clothes are accidentally falling off, you’ll be the first person I call,” Nicole said.  “Or, you know, you can just buy me a coffee or something.”

“Oh, no no no,” Waverly said quickly and nervously.  “I’m in a relationship.  With a boy.  Man!  A boy-man.”

“A boy-man, huh?” Nicole asked, stepping forward and leading Waverly out of the room.  “I’ve been there.  It’s the worst.”

“You’re telling me,” Waverly said without thinking.

Nicole gave her a very amused look.

“I’m with Champ,” Waverly repeated.  “You’ve met Champ.  He usually does these walks with me, but he’s…he’s at Shorty’s funeral today.”

The mood shifted, and both women were at least a bit grateful that it shifted, even if it shifted to one so dark.  That day was Shorty’s funeral, that’s why Nicole went to visit Waverly and no one else was there.

There was a bit of a silence.

“How much have you walked of this hallway?” Nicole asked.

“What?”

“There’s a really big window at the other end,” Nicole said.  “If you’re feeling up to it, we could go catch a glimpse of the outside.”

A small grin spread on Waverly’s face.

“Sounds good.”

**-WE-**

Nicole visited Waverly the next day, too.  It had very rapidly become a habit, even if it had also very rapidly become clear that Waverly was content with being friends.  Which Nicole was content with, too.  She would never want to make Waverly think she wanted her to be something she wasn’t.  And she did want to be friends with Waverly.

So, she visited.  When she got there, though, she saw a doctor with Waverly, doing an ultrasound scan of her stomach.

“Oh,” Nicole said, stopping at the doorway when she saw she was interrupting.  “Oh, _shit_.  Uh, I’ll…I’ll be back later.”

“No, you’re good,” Waverly said, looking from Nicole to the doctor.  “You’re all done, right?”

The doctor nodded.  “Yes, everything looks good.”

Waverly grinned.  “Thanks.”

The doctor nodded warmly and packed up their tool, and left, passing a very awkward Nicole in the doorway.

“Do you plan on coming in, or just standing in the doorway?” Waverly asked, pulling down her gown and getting comfortable in bed again.

“Yeah,” Nicole said.  “Yeah.  Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Waverly said.  “You heard the doctor, everything looks good.”

“Good!” Nicole said.  “Good.  That’s good.”

Waverly squinted at Nicole.  “What is it?”

“Nothing!” Nicole said.  “No, this is good!  It’s good, if this is what you want.  I mean, not that that’s any of my business…”

“Yeah this is what I want,” Waverly said, still confused.  “Why wouldn’t this be what I want?”

Nicole shrugged.  “I don’t know.  That’s entirely up to you.  And Champ, I guess.  Actually no, screw it, it’s just up to you.”

“What does Champ have to do with this?”

“You just had an ultrasound, right?” Nicole asked.

“Yeah, on where my spleen used to be,” Waverly said.  “It felt weird this morning, they thought the sutures might’ve blown but turns out they didn’t and I’m not bleeding, it’s just normal swelling.”

“Oh!” Nicole looked visibly relieved.  “That’s good.  I’m glad you’re not bleeding from your spleen…hole…” Nicole trailed off, making a face.  She wanted to say something supportive but that definitely was not the most articulate thing she’d ever said.

Still, Waverly was amused.  “Thanks.  I’m glad, too.”

“It felt weird though?” Nicole asked.  “What does that mean?”

“It hurt, I guess,” Waverly said.  “No, actually, it definitely hurt.  But I’ve never had surgery before so it’s weird to feel that there’s something not in there that used to be in there.”

Nicole nodded.  “I get that.”

“Yeah?”

Nicole nodded.  “Oh yeah.  I played hockey growing up, and when I was a kid I got five teeth knocked out all at once.”

“Holy shit.”

“I was in, like, the second grade, they were coming out anyway.”

“You should’ve led with that.”

Nicole laughed.  “I know teeth and spleens are different, but they’re some of those things that you don’t notice until you know they’re not there.  You know?”

Waverly nodded.  “Yeah.  I know.  That explains it perfectly.”

“Except my big kid teeth grew in, and you’re stuck spleenless for life.”

Waverly laughed.  “Hey, don’t rub it in!”

Nicole shrugged, smirking, and the conversation flowed easily between them.

**-WE-**

Later that night, Waverly heard someone knock on her doorway.

“Twice in one day?” she called.  “What did I do to deserve-?  Oh!  Hi, Wynonna.”

Wynonna smiled slightly from the doorway.  “Hey, baby girl.  Can I come in?”

Waverly nodded.  “Sure.”

“Who’d you think I was?” Wynonna asked.  “What, Champ’s been pulling two-a-days?”

“No,” Waverly laughed, which served as her only response.

Wynonna sat in the chair next to Waverly’s bed.

“What are you doing here?” Waverly asked.  “It’s after visiting hours.”

“I know I guy,” Wynonna said.  Waverly cocked an eyebrow at her.  “I flashed the badge.  Being a fed has its perks.  And having the whole town hate you has its perks.  No one wants to argue with me.”

“That is a perk.”

Wynonna nodded.  “Hey, you really saved our asses today.  I didn’t know you could do an exorcism over FaceTime.”

“Well, we adapt, right?” Waverly asked.  “If I can’t be there in person to get the evil spirit of August Hamilton out of Dolls, we’ll use technology to make it work.”

“Yeah, god forbid Dolls end up with a personality,” Wynonna said.  “Anyone’s personality.”

Waverly cracked a grin, but still there was a silence between them.  “You called at a good time.  They started me on physical therapy this afternoon so they upped my morphine.  Things might get a little loopy.”

“Ah, so I came just in time,” Wynonna grinned, leaning back and making herself comfortable.

Waverly made a face, agreeing.

“Does that mean you won’t remember this?”

Waverly shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’ll let you know tomorrow.  If I remember to let you know, that is.”

Wynonna nodded a bit, but then took a deep breath.  “So, in dealing with the ten pounds of fun in a five pound sack of judgement that is August Hamilton today, I kind of realized some things.”

“Like what?” Waverly asked.  “That that’s not a very useful sack?”

“So it begins,” Wynonna muttered to herself.  “No,” she said.  “I realized I owe you an apology.”

“Yeah?”

Wynonna nodded.  “Yeah.  His whole thing was getting forgiveness from the people I’ve wronged in under two hours-.”

“That seems like quite the feat.”

“I know.  But, anyway, I owe you an apology, for whatever I’ve done that’s wronged you the most.  I’m sorry I killed Dad.”

Waverly laughed.  “Wynonna, that’s fine.”

“Are you laughing?”

“That’s not it.”

“I’m sorry I let them take Willa…?”  It was an apology, a sincere one, but also a question.

“You were twelve, what were you going to do?”

“I’m sorry I haven’t visited you here,” Wynonna said.

“I get it,” Waverly said.  “Gus stops by, and Champ, and Chrissy and Steph sometimes, and Nicole.”

“Nicole?” Wynonna asked.  “Like, cop Nicole?”

Waverly nodded.  “Yes, cop Nicole.  Tall Nicole.”

“She is kind of tall, isn’t she?” Wynonna asked.  She frowned a bit.  “I think it’s the boots.  Anyway.  I’m sorry I haven’t been around more.”

Wynonna hated hospitals, and Waverly knew it.  And Wynonna knew that Waverly knew it.  Wynonna hated hospitals ever since she was twelve and they forced her into one after the other after she shot her father.  So, hospitals were not her favorite place on earth.

“It’s fine,” Waverly said.

“I’m sorry I left?”

“I understand why you left,” Waverly said.  “That’s so not what I’m mad about.”

“Then what is it?” Wynonna asked.  She wanted to know, and the idea that Waverly might not remember this was bouncing around in the back of her head.

“I should be the heir.”  Waverly spoke calmly, and matter-of-factly.  The morphine was certainly kicking in.  She shrugged.  “I did all this work, you know?  I spent my whole life after the age of six trying to find a way to stop this curse.  There’s no reason I can’t stop it, not with all the work I’ve done.  I’m good at this, Wynonna, and you come back and you get to be the special one.  I have a university degree in ancient cultures and languages and I’m just _this_.”

“You are not ‘just’ anything, Waves.  Everyone loves you, because you’re so awesome.”

“You’re the special one,” Waverly repeated.  “You never tried to be good at anything and here you are, with the badge and the Dolls and all the things you get to do.  You never wanted it but it was given to you.”

“And you wanted it.”

Waverly frowned a bit, shrugging again though tears threatened to fall.

“And I got it,” Wynonna said.  “And you love me anyway, but it’s hard.”

“It’s hard,” Waverly repeated and agreed.

“You should move in with me when you get out of here,” Wynonna said.  “I can talk to Dolls getting you a bigger role in Black Badge, if you’re able.  Your work is important.”

“It’s not just a terrible scrapbooking habit?”

“No,” Wynonna said.  “It’s…maybe you’re not ‘The Special One,’ but you’re special, Waves.  That’s why I love you.”

Waverly looked at Wynonna but didn’t say anything.

“Isn’t this when you say you love me, too?”

Waverly looked from Wynonna to the morphine hanging from her IV pole.

“I packed a bag.”

“What?” Wynonna laughed.

“When I graduated high school, when I turned eighteen, I packed a bag.”

“For what?”

“To go with you.”

Wynonna felt like she got punched in the gut.  She actually recoiled in her seat.  “Go with me where?” she asked, voice nearing a harsh, raw tone but she didn’t care.

“To wherever you went,” Waverly said, like it was simple.  “When you went away when I was growing up, I’d ask to go with you.  Do you remember?”

“I remember.”

“And you’d tell me to finish school, to wait until I was grown up,” Waverly said.  “And I did.  I waited and I researched places we could go and I packed a bag and I made a plan.  Several plans, actually, because I didn’t know where exactly we were going but they were all adaptable.  And then I graduated and I was going to ask you about it that night, but you wouldn’t let me get you in a room without Gus or Curtis.  Then the next morning you were gone.”

Wynonna wiped a tear from her cheek quickly.  She remembered this, but she thought she was the one who got hurt more.  She was wrong.

“That’s what I’m mad about,” Waverly said.  “You couldn’t control being the heir, maybe I resent that but I don’t blame you.  You chose to leave.”

“I didn’t know you packed a bag.”

“I know,” Waverly said, which was true.  She had never told her until just then.  “But you knew I wanted to go with you, we’d talked about it.  You promised.  Then, you left first thing in the morning.  I…I woke up early, to try to catch you if you tried to leave early.  I was too late.”

“I didn’t sleep that night,” Wynonna said.  “I waited until you all went to bed, then I left.”

“Why?” Waverly asked.  “What was so awful about the idea of taking me that you made sure I couldn’t go with you?  It took you over a year to even tell me where you were.”

“You have a life here, Waverly,” Wynonna said.  “You have friends and a family and an education.  You have a life and you have a chance to do whatever you want to do and me taking you around Europe would’ve derailed all of that.”

“And what if that was what I wanted?” Waverly asked.

Wynonna didn’t have an answer to that.

Waverly sort of waved her hand.  “Can’t change it now, right?”

Wynonna shook her head.  “No,” she admitted.

“I don’t want you to go away again,” Waverly said.

“I won’t,” Wynonna said.

“Promise?” Waverly asked.

“Yeah, baby girl,” Wynonna said, taking her hand.  “I promise.”

**-WE-**

Waverly was in the hospital for another couple of weeks, slowly but steadily getting better.  Nicole still visited often, and Dolls even came around.  Doc came by, too, once he found out Waverly knew who he was.  Wynonna visited, usually trying to come when no one else was there but even on the off chance that she crossed paths with Gus or even Champ, she was civil.

After a few days, though, she didn’t see Champ around.

“Champ’s not here?” Wynonna asked, sitting down next to Waverly.  She came in the evening, and Champ had made a habit of coming around dinnertime and hanging out with Waverly before heading to the bar and doing god knows what with who knows which girls.

It was something Waverly knew about and just sort of accepted, deciding that yeah Champ was kind of an asshole who definitely didn’t appreciate her but he wasn’t awful and he was good in bed.  But she was fed up with settling that.

“Yeah, we broke up,” Waverly said.

“Yeah?” Wynonna asked.  “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

Waverly exhaled deeply.  “This may shock you, but Champ’s an asshole.”

“What?  No way!”

“I know,” Waverly said.  “I just…I got tired of it. I got tired of him.  He went through a lot of Shorty’s stuff and he found a letter to me, and I was trying to talk to him about it and he just…”  She sighed.  “I swear, that boy-man is on autopilot until he hears his own name or any mention of sex.”

Wynonna made a face.  “I probably could’ve gone without hearing that.”

“And that was fine, before,” Waverly said.  “The me I was six months ago was okay with just being in a relationship with Champ because of the sex and the arm candy.”

“Are you on a ton of morphine again?”

“What?  No,” Waverly said.  “I’m good.  I’m a happily single Virgo with hair for days.  I’m getting out of here soon.  Things are looking up.”

“Good,” Wynonna said.  “I’m glad.”

“Me too,” Waverly said, smiling a bit.

**-WE-**

“I remember a couple weeks ago, I dreamed about seeing out this window,” Waverly said, wearing normal clothes and standing with a hospital-gown-clad Nicole at the window at the end of the hallway.

“Yeah?” Nicole asked.  “Really, truly dreamed about it?”

Waverly nodded.  “Yep.  And here you are, making it to the window like, three days after being resuscitated in a ditch?  It took me over a week.”

“Well, my room’s a lot closer,” Nicole said.  Waverly had been released from the hospital a week earlier.  She had Steph’s engagement party at her house, and Nicole and Wynonna had been kidnapped.  Wynonna had been rescued and she had received treatment for the gash on her toe and overall shock and exhaustion, but otherwise refused hospitalization.

Nicole, however, was in the hospital for a few days.  She had been resuscitated on the scene, where the doctor working for the Jack of Knives had left her in that ditch.  They wanted to keep a close eye on her – she was going to be okay, but being without a heartbeat in a frozen ditch had left her really weak.

“Still, the least I could do was return the favor,” Waverly said.  “I don’t know how many times you walked me up and down this hallway.”

“At least a dozen,” Nicole said.

Waverly gave her a look.  “Did you keep count?”

Nicole shrugged.  “We’re friends, right?  I wasn’t just going to forget all the time I spent here with you.”

Waverly nodded.  “Yep.  Friends.”

“Friends can be honest with each other, too,” Nicole said.  Waverly looked at her with an almost panicked, scared expression.  “Waverly, there’s something going on here.”

“Here?” Waverly asked.  “Right here?”

“I mean, in Purgatory, yeah,” Nicole said.  “I almost got killed and Wynonna got kidnapped by some dude who’s basically a dead ringer for Jack the Ripper.  That’s not normal.”

“Nicole,” Waverly sighed.  “We don’t need to do this right now-.”

“So you know what’s happening?”

“It’s not mine to tell.”

“But it involves you?” Nicole asked.  “Are you safe?”

Waverly looked at her for a moment.  “I think there might be something else going on here.”

“Yeah?”

Waverly nodded.  “Not all the stuff in town, but, here…”  She waved a bit in the space between her and Nicole.  “It’s all new to me.”

“What, friendship?”

“No,” Waverly said definitively, and the way Nicole looked at her changed.  “Look, Gus sold Shorty’s and she gave me an unreal amount of money-.”

“What?”

“And told me to go do what I want to do,” Waverly said, ignoring Nicole’s surprise and powering through.  “And it’s you.”

“It’s me?”

“God, that sounded more romantic in my head,” Waverly said.  “Nicole, I know you’re gay and you’ve done this all before but this is still new to me.”

“I’ve never done exactly this before,” Nicole said, reaching for Waverly’s arm and gently stroking it.

“It’s just that, you scare me,” Waverly said, flinching a bit but not moving out of Nicole’s reach.  “This is new.”

“You said that already.”

“Maybe I should stop talking.”

“No, you’re good at this,” Nicole said, grinning.

“Well, maybe you should stop talking.”

Nicole grinned wide.  “Maybe you should make me,” she said, cocking her head to the side in challenge.

Waverly grinned and looked down as Nicole pulled Waverly’s scarf toward her, pulling Waverly herself toward her.

Waverly put her arms around Nicole’s back and pulled her in and kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've pretty much reached where I wanted to. The point of this whole fic I think was to just write certain conversations and give them context, so I really wanted to write that scene with Wynonna about the bag. So, I did, and now this fic is done. Thanks for reading it! Please let me know what you think!


End file.
